Monday, June 13, 2005

The Slave Owner's Book Store

I Could Scream
Everyone must know by now about the Saudi couple in Colorado facing state and federal charges on various counts:
     A Saudi Arabian couple was in custody Friday, accused of turning a young Indonesian woman into a virtual slave, forcing her to clean, cook and care for their children while she was threatened and sexually assaulted.
A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Homaidan Al-Turki, 36, and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, 35, on charges of forced labor, document servitude and harboring an illegal immigrant.
Al-Turki also faces state charges including kidnapping, false imprisonment and extortion, as well as 12 charges of sexual assault. His wife faces some of the same charges. The two could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Jeff Dorschner said the Indonesian woman, who is in her 20s, came to the United States with the couple legally to perform domestic chores. But her U.S. visa was hidden from her by Al-Turki and Khonaizan, according to Thursday's indictment.
The woman was controlled by "a climate of fear and intimidation" that included sexual abuse and the belief that she would "suffer serious harm" if she did not perform her tasks, the indictment said.
The woman is believed to have lived with the couple from 2000 until November 2004, according to authorities.
Mr. Homaidan Al-Turki, the alleged perpetrator of these crimes, is the owner of a book store called Al-Basheer Publications and Translations. Here is his “About” page:
     Al-Basheer Publications & Translations began in 1417 Hijri, 1996 C.E. and is dedicated to publishing high quality books on Islam from only authentic sources. Our titles are by distinguished scholars from around the world. Most notably, we are the publisher for books written and translated by Sheikh Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo.
Al-Basheer Publications & Translations is dedicated to the spread of knowledge from the Aqeedah and Minhaj of Ahl us-Sunnah wa al-Jama'at. All of our books, tapes and other products that we publish and distribute have all be carefully researched to ensure quality and accuracy of content. May Allah guide us in this effort (emphasis added).
We distribute a huge selection of items, including books, tapes, videos and gifts. In the coming weeks, you will see these items as they are added to our inventory on the internet and to our catalogues. We carry books in English, Arabic, and more than 13 other languages. Currently we have opened Maktabat Al-Basheer on the internet to assist you in shopping for the best books in English and Arabic, as well as the Quran and translations of the Quran.
We welcome your questions and comments at info@al-basheer.com.
By all means, drop him an email; he says your comments are welcome.

Meanwhile, there's a spotlight special on the website this week.
    
Do Women Really Know Their Rights?
Format: 5 Audio CDs (English)
By: Yasir Birjas
Retail: $25.95
You Save: 10.02%
Your Price: $23.35
Weight: 1.00 Lbs.
You might want to hurry though. It says there are only four copies left. No doubt there were five before he gave a copy to the maid.


UPDATE: More specific details have been released about the Indonesian slave.

She was 17 in 1999 when she flew to Ridyadh to begin her sojourn with the Saudi slave masters. They moved to Colorado in 2000.

Promised $160.00 a month, she received $1.91 a day for a day that began at 6:00 a.m. preparing breakfast for the family which they ate while she waited in the basement. Eventually, in addition to laundry, cleaning and washing the family cars,her duties grew to include servicing the head of the house:

Shortly after arriving in the U.S., Al-Turki began making improper advances toward her, including watching her shower and touching her, she said. Gradually, his sexual overtures escalated until he was raping her, she told authorities.

If you were wondering how she escaped, the authorities were given "a tip" that the family was harboring an illegal alien. They got a search warrant in November, 2004 and discovered the slave. She was removed from the home and legal proceedings began.

One nice note: this couple has known since November that they were going to be indicted. That's a lot of sleepless nights between November and June. Kind of gives you a warm feeling to dwell on their predicament.

If the benighted MSM doesn't bury this story under toilet paper, it will be interesting to see how the trial goes and what the sentence is. Perhaps old Al-Turki should talk to Michael Jackson, see what the secret is.

8 comments:

Always On Watch said...

I'm pretty good at following news developments, particularly as they relate to Islam, but I missed this one. Granted, I haven't been doing as much online reading as usual, but I don't recall hearing this story trumpeted on television. Of course, this afternoon, all I hear is "Michael Jackson."

I am not in the least surprised that a Saudi couple is holding a slave. Slave-holding is a common practice in the Middle East and is condoned in the Quran. I am saddened to hear that Al-Turki [This name cries out for a pun, but I'm restraining myself] and his wife were able to imprison this woman.

It seems to me that this story is worthy of more coverage in the media. Enslaving and abusing a human being within the United States is, surely, as significant as "desecrating" a book.

Where are the human-rights activists on this one? Silent.

Dymphna said...

The Saudis are famous for this. The State Dept just issued a bad report card for them re "human trafficking."

Dymphna said...

bigdaddybean--
$200.00 would be more than worth it if you actually got paid. You could send the money home, which is the whole point of working like a dog. It's the sadistic brutality and the sexual abuse which is intolerable.On I Could ScreamI wrote about an Indonesian maid who was going home minus her fingers and some toes due to gangrene. Another was so disfigured that the Saudi officials who saw her said her family wouldn't want her back.
____

Steve--
I agree with you that it's common to use and abuse women in third world countries. Actually, our own rate of cruelty to women and children is pretty sad.

The Saudis are a special case, though. In fact, the Indonesian govt has told contractors they can't send women to SA. The barbarism is simply too bad to ignore any longer. They are tortured, have a high suicide rate, and even the Saudi govt has had to set up shelters...used to be they just picked them up and returned them to the home they ran from, but it's gotten to be too well-known and they can't get away with that anymore.

I agree with you about the elite in third world countries. I'm sure it happens in the rest of the world, too. But poor young girls being sent home pregnant and cared for by their families are quite different than what transpires in the Middle East, where the mistreatment of is endemic. And Saudi Arabia is the worst of all. They've declared open season on maids.

This family has been here since 2000 so I don't know what their immigration status is. I do hope they're citizens so we can put them away for a loooong time. Imagine what the poor, who are lodged in our prisons in overwhelming numbers and whose grandmas were probably domestics, will have to say to these people.

Unknown said...

Apart from a criminal trial, I would like to see the young lady launch a civil suit and recover damages. That should bankrupt the Saudi bastard and allow the maid to return home in some comfort. That would be justice.

Engineer-Poet said...

It would be easy to use this story to make Bush look bad, except that it would mean taking sides against the poor "oppressed" Muslims and their "misunderstood" religion.

Thus the omerta.

pst314 said...

"MsM isn't touching it."

ABC and the Washington Post have covered it. On the other hand, not a peep from the Chicago Tribune. Perhaps they're consulting with CAIR on the proper way to spin this. /sarcasm

Dymphna said...

Of course the maid is Muslim! I thought it was too obvious to need saying.

Saudis don't take on non-Muslims for their slaves, especially those who follow Jamal Zarabozo, which Mr. Al-Turki certainly does. You can find a number of his books on the slave owner's site for his bookstore. One big no-no for Zarabozo is sex with infidels. No way is Al Turki going to have an infidel slave.

BTW, slavery's okay by Zarabozo, just not having sex with 'em if they're not Muslim.

I'd put aside a post on his links with the Islamic Assembly of North America, a terrorist organization, but I think I'll find it and put it up.

Wahhabism is definitely a cancer on the American commonweal. The sooner they are out of here, the better. It's not so good for others, either. Indonesia has declared a moratorium on workers to Saudi Arabia. Too many of them coming back crippled, disfigured, or in body bags.

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